A harbinger to early spring, the “Dawn” viburnum is also a good antidote to the winter blahs on a dreary gray sky January day. While all other deciduous trees and shrubs only hint at a sign of life with their tight buds, the viburnum has already burst into clusters of tiny pink flowers blooming on bare branches. Take a moment to smell the strong sweet scent of these blooms. After the blooms are spent, they are replaced by full vibrant green leaves, which turn a dusty pink-gold in the fall. The red berries in autumn are good for the birds.
Adding a decorative understory contrast to our stately tall conifers are the native vine maples. While vine maples can be single trunked, they more typically are multi-stemmed large shrubs with the telltale maple leaves and elegant tiered branching like that of Japanese maples. In the fall, the vine maple leaves provides a soft yellow glow in the dappled light beneath the towering conifers. In sunnier settings, the autumn leaves change to hues of orange to red.
Flowers of wine-red and white form along the branches in the spring. These contrast with the red sheaths covering the yet-to-emerge leaves and the reddish new woody growth. Although vine maples rarely grow taller than 20 feet, their branches have a lovely way of reaching and arching in a vining fashion, giving it a wide spread of up to 20 feet.
Vine maples are also great wildlife plants. Its seeds nourish songbirds, squirrels, & chipmunks. . Deer and elk also feed on its foliage and twigs. In addition, the vine maple’s tough flexible wood was used by many Northwestern tribes for tools, bows, drum frames and baskets, among other uses.
Known to the native Americans as the “tree of life”, the Western red cedar provided them with virtually everything they needed for their lives. Every part of the tree was used. Tools, baskets and fishtraps were made from the ropey branches, the strong fiber of its roots were woven into hats and headgear, and the wood provided for their lodges and was carved into totems, boxes, cradles, masks and instruments. its bark provided clothing, blankets and diapers, while a downed cedar became great canoes with the capacity to carry 20 people.
No wonder this tree was revered and well cared for. It became a “cornerstone of Northwest Coastal Indian culture”— so much so that the Native Americans called themselves “People of the Cedar.” It is still held in high regard for its healing and spiritual powers. Many medicines have been created from this tree.
Together with the Douglas fir and western hemlock, the western red cedar is one of the most widespread trees in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a beautiful tree with its shaggy bark and graceful branches with tips that swoop upward. Standing upward to 200 feet with a girth of 10 – 13 feet in diameter, the western red cedar can be a very long lived tree. Ring counts of trees from Washington and British Columbia indicate that some trees live at least up to 1460 years.
This is a tree worthy of respect and we are fortunate to have so many grace our park.
Aptly named, the bigleaf maple is not only a large tree, typically growing up to 66 feet, but it’s best known for its spectacularly huge leaves which can grow to be 12 inches across. It has the largest leaves of any maple tree. The largest big leaf maple stood 160 feet high and the largest leaves found were 24 inches across! The big leaf maple is most spectacular in the fall with leaves that turn from yellow to reddish-orange.
This tree is native to western North Ameica, growing mostly near the Pacific coast. In the humid parts of its range, its bark and branches are covered with epiphytic moss and fern species. Taking advantage of the rich nutrients and abundant moisture provided by these epiphytes, the big leaf maple produces a network of aerial roots in its crown that taps into the abounding epiphytic mats.
In the spring, long pendulous flowers produce the familiar winged fruits known as samaras. One tree can produce a million seeds. The flowers are a great nectar source for hummingbirds as well as bees and other insects, while the seeds provide food for many songbirds and small mammals in the winter.
Lakwungen First Nations people of Vancouver Island call it the “paddle tree” and used it to make paddles and spindle wheels. Today, it is the only commercially used maple in the Pacific coast region. The wood is used for applications as diverse as furniture, piano frames and salad bowls.
The current national champion bigleaf maple is located in Marion, Oregon. It has a circumference of 25.4 feet or an average diameter at breast height of about 8.1 feet and is 88 feet tall with a crown spread of 104 feet.
Perhaps the most graceful deciduous tree in the Park is the katsura . Native to China and Japan, the katsura is the Japanese word for “tree”. In the fall, its rounded leaves put on a show as they glow in shades of yellow or pinkish yellow. Some say that when the leaves fall, the tree produces a fragrance that some call spicy; others compare it to brown sugar.
The Katsura Tree has been around for a very long time. Fossil records date its existence to 1.8 million years. It even grew across North America and Europe until it vanished from those areas during the Pleistocene Era. Katsura was introduced in 1865 by Thomas Hogg, who sent seeds from Japan to his brother’s nursery in New York.
Katsuras can grow to a height of 60 feet. The katsuras in Pier Park can be found growing in the “valley” near disc golf hole # 4.
Since just before Thanksgiving, there have been a rash of hatchet cuttings to at least 14 trees in the park, including one Sequoia, 12 Douglas firs and 1 Birch tree. Hopefully the trees will heal themselves, but these wounds could be entry points for disease.
Please keep you eye open for any suspicious behavior – You can help by reporting anyone you witness vandalizing any of the trees or shrubs in this park.
Call a park ranger: 503-823-1637
Vandalism to vegetation is not only destructive, but illegal.
“No person shall remove, destroy, break, injure, mutilate, or deface in any way in any Park any tree, shrub, fern, plant, flower, or other vegetation without a permit” … Any person convicted of such vandalism will be “punished by a fine of not more than $500, or by imprisonment for a period of not more than 6 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment… “
One of the loveliest native shrub of the early summer is our native Mock Orange, Philadelphus lewisii with its clusters of showy white flowers. The state flower of Idaho, it was discovered by Merriweather Lewis and gets its common name from the delicious orangey scent that makes it attractive to bees and humans alike. The mock orange can be found on the north side of the park next to the service road leading up to Chimney Bridge. Take a moment to smell the flowers.
The mock orange will flower for several weeks starting in early June. Its tall, arching branches are covered with a multitude of snow-white blossoms of usually four petals, bright yellow in the center.
The stems were used by native Americans for making arrows, bows, combs, tobacco pipes, and cradles.
In late May and early June, the tulip trees of Pier Park come into bloom. Few notice these exotic flowers, as they lack the showiness of rhodys and dogwoods and they don’t appear until after the tree has leafed out. It takes a careful glance up and into the branches of the tree to see these yellow flowers with their orange flare at the base. Both the shape of its flowers and its leaves give the tulip tree its name.
The tulip tree is native to Eastern North America and is in the magnolia family. It is the state tree of Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. The wood has been used for furniture, plywood, boatbuilding, paper pulp and general lumber. It’s a large deciduous tree, growing upward to 150’ – although 70 – 90 ‘ if more common. Pier Park is home to two tulip trees, both located just on the northwest end of the sequoia grove – one near the service road.
Stately and sculptural, the madrona is one of the most dramatic and beautiful of Oregon’s native trees. Its reddish bark gradually peels away, revealing the beautiful copper or orange-red color and silky smooth bark beneath.
Typically found growing on rocky outcrops and dry bluffs, the Madrona is an unexpected addition to Pier Park. Several madronas grace the west side of the park. You will find their branches winding upward through the trees, reaching towards the sun.
Pacific madrona is a broadleaved evergreen tree and a member of the heath family (Ericaceae). In addition to its smooth trunk and deciduous bark, it blooms in the spring with white panicles of fragrant flowers, followed by clusters of small round fruits that turn red in fall. These fruits are important food for many bird species as well as raccoons and deer.
Pacific madronas attain heights of 80 to 125 ft and diameters of 24 to 48 in. The largest trees may be as much as 400 years old. Ages of 200 to 250 years have been counted.
The native Americans considered the madrona to be sacred. Thus, the wood was never used for fire, even though it will burn long and hot. However, the berries were enjoyed and the leaves and bark were used medicinally to help cure cramps, stomach aches, sore throats and skin sores.
“…. all the more luminous in the light of the evening sunset – the Pacific Madrona is “one of Nature’s most ornamental works of art”.
Arthur Krukeberg, The Nattural History of Puget Sound Country
